Sound asleep..

I can't remember the day our eldest daughter fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon. But she did, just the other day. We had to pick her up from school. Her tummy was really upset. In the middle of the night, it must have been around 4 AM, she woke me up, sticking a bucket of vomit under my nose. She said she was sick to her stomach, but she felt better after she had been able to throw up. She wanted to go back to bed after I gave her some meds against nausea.

She went to school anyway. By noon, the principal called. If we could pick up our daughter. She was not coping well and she looked real pale. So hubby fetched her, while I was treating a low blood glucose (that's what emotions do). For the first time in her life, I heard my daughter say: I don't want to smell any food!!! She laid down on the couch immediately and I asked her if she needed a comfortable blanket. She was not going to sleep!! Hello??? She's not a baby, okay?

It cannot have been more than 15 minutes later, when I checked on her. Two whippets by her side and covered in fleece blankets, my little girl was sound asleep, her hair all sweaty and her cheeks red. It took me back in time. It must have been 12 years ago, since she was really sick to her stomach. She was so tiny back then. Short and curly hair, dark eyes and red spots in her face from the fever she had at the time. Her little hand in mine, looking for comfort and warmth. She's still my little girl, although she will be 16 soon..